The assassination of Charlie Kirk has unleashed an avalanche of commentary, much of it vile, gleeful, or dismissive. But into that chorus stepped an unexpected voice — one with a knack for cutting through cultural hypocrisy: J.K. Rowling.
If you believe free speech is for you but not your political opponents, you’re illiberal.
If no contrary evidence could change your beliefs, you’re a fundamentalist.
If you believe the state should punish those with contrary views, you’re a totalitarian.
If you believe…
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 11, 2025
Rowling, who has weathered years of left-wing fury for her refusal to bow to progressive orthodoxy, issued a blunt truth in the wake of Kirk’s murder:
“…political opponents should be punished with violence or death, you’re a terrorist.”
No qualifications. No hedging. Just clarity. If you excuse, condone, or celebrate assassination because of politics, you are no different from the extremists you claim to oppose.
It’s dark here. Not in sunlight but in meaning. I cannot figure out why the death of a perfect stranger who said many things I disagreed with has shaken me. Not sure why the reflections of a complete stranger in Scotland who writes wonderful fiction should matter to me. Not sure…
— Sean Trapani (@SeanTrapani) September 11, 2025
That’s the bitter irony here. The very people who brand conservatives “fascists,” “Nazis,” or “threats to democracy” are often the ones reveling in violence when it comes. They accuse the Right of sowing hatred, yet it is their allies who fill social media with cheers when a man is gunned down in front of college students. They posture as defenders of democracy while indulging in the very terrorism they project onto others.
Rowling’s words sting because they expose the inversion at work: liberals condemn the Right as violent authoritarians while justifying or minimizing violence against conservatives. And in that moral collapse lies the true danger — a society where disagreement is no longer settled with words but with bullets.
Do you include Hitler in that?
— ציפי לביא (@tzippylavi) September 11, 2025
For many, this tragedy has been a moment of revelation. People who once flirted with progressivism, or at least excused its excesses, are waking up. They are seeing with new clarity what unchecked ideological hatred produces. The scales are falling from their eyes.
